Cabinet door fastening device



' Aug. 7, 1945.

E. C. WORTHLEY CABINET DOOR FASTENING DEVICE Filed ma s. 1943 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 7, 1945. E. c. WORTHLEY 2,381,095 I I I CABINET DQORFASTENING DEVICE I Fil edMay 3, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IIIIIII'nIIm 22?VII V R jwfw v AZZaffaqgs Patented Aug. 7, 1945 UNITED sTA'rss PATENTOFFICE 3 2,381,095 csnnva'r noon FASTENING nnvrcn C. Worthley,Minneapolis, Minn.- Application my 3,1943, Serial No. 4855472 Myinvention belongs to the cabinet art and pertains to an improvedfastening device or apparatus for hinged cabinet doors. v

While the invention is adapted for use in connection with cabinets ofmany diiferent designs and for many different purposes, it was primarilydesigned for use in connection with cabinets for portable inotorgenerator sets, and, when so used, serves to maintain 'a constantclosing pressure on the hinged cabinet door so long as the door isclosed, thereby preventing accidental opening of the door, even if it benot positively locked closed,

3 claims. (01.292-228) tom, and side panels 8. 'I'he-frontof the cabinetis primarily open, but is provided with a hinged door 1. .All edges ofthe cabinet are shown as covered by cross-sectionally roundedreinforcing strips I. The door -I is shown as being in the nature of awooden panel that is received in the door opening and which is providedat its edges with metal reinforcing strips 9 that project beyond theedges of the door panel and, overlap the outer edge portions of the dooropening when the door is closed. This door 1 is hinged to the cabinet atits bottom edge portion by means of suitable .hinges N. The bottom ofthe cabinet is provided adjacent its opposite side portions withforwardly and rearwardly extending skidways II, which are adapted toslidably engage runners or skids ll of a platform It. In practice, amotor g'enerator' set such as indicated by dotted lines in Fig.

according to thepresent illustration, the biasing of the flange or wingis provided through the medium of a suitable spring or springs, andnovel means is provided for holding the flange or wing in anoutwardly-extended inoperative position.

As a still further feature of the invention, I prefer'ably provide thecabinet doorwith' one or more lock-receiving anchoring devices andprovide the I flange or wing with a notch or notches to receive suchanchoring device or devices. numerous other objects, advantages, andimpor-' tant features of, the invention will'be made apparent fromthe'following specification, claims, and appended drawings.

- In the accompanying drawings, like characters indicate like partsthroughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view, with the'door'closed,

of a cabinet involving the invention;

Fig. 2 is aperspective view similar to Fig. 1 and showing the cabinetdoor and fastening flange or wing in their open positions:

Fig. 3 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on theline 3'"3 of Fig. 2: and

2 will be mounted fast on the platform It and the platform and motorgenerator set will be slid as a unit into the cabinet for storage ortransportation purposes, and will be slid out onto the opened-cover 1during operating periods of the motor generator unit. Preferably, adrawer It for tools and accessories is slidably mounted in the upperportion of the casing on suitable rails i5 and is provided with 9.depending handle It for withdrawing the same slidably through the Theabove and opened front of the casing.

The hinged "wing or flange of the preferred embodiment of the inventionillustrated, indicated by IT, is somewhat wider than the door opening inthe cabinet and is pivotally connected to an anchoring flange it on anaxis parallel to but spaced slightly above the upper edge of the dooropening at H. In fact, the flanges or wings I! and I8 together form along hinge having a free flange or wing I I and an anchored flange IS.The anchoring flange I8 is rounded to conform to the rounded upper frontcornerof the cabinet and is anchored thereto by screws or the like 20.As a "means for yieldingly biasing the flange or wing i1 to'move to itsclosed or door opening overlapping position, a pair of coil torsionsprings 2i are disposed overthe pivot pin of the hinge and have theiropposite ends overlapping opposite flanges Fig. 4 is a fragmentarydetail sectional view taken'on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

The cabinet illustrated is, as previously indicated, designed to houseportable motor generator sets such as are used for field lighting andpower purposes, and such amotor generator set is indi-' cated by dottedlines-in Fig. 2. Theparticular cabinet illustrated involves arectangular wooden framework I, cut out to receive wooden'top, botorwings I I and It. To facilitate raising or opening of the wing l1against the action of the springs 2|, I preferably equip the wings I"!with a suitable handle 22. v

While the spring-pressed flange orwing i! of the invention will exertsufficient resilient closing pressure against the upper edge portion ofthe door I to prevent accidental opening thereof, it is often desirableto lock the cabinet closed to protect the motor generator set or thelike against tampering or theft. and for this, purpose I preferablyprovide the door I with apertured staplelike fastening devices 23, andprovide receiving apertures 24 therefor in the flange [1. When theflange I! is closed over the fastening devices 23 as shown in Fig. '1,suitable padlocks maybe inserted through the apertured fastening devices23 just as in the case of a conventional lock hasp.

As a means for holding the flange or wing I! in its raised inoperativeposition against the action of the springs 2|, I provide a mechanismcomprising a headed plunger 25, a coil compresably in the pressed metalchannel 27, which' latter is anchored to the top panel of the cabinet byanchoring screws 29 and has a closed inner end 38. The coil spring 26 isinterposed between the closed inner end 30 of the channel 21 and thehead 25a of the plunger, and has sufficient force and is of suflicientlength to push the plunger outwardly to the position thereof shown bydotted lines in Fig. 3, when the flange i1 is raised to its openposition. Now, when it is desired to retain the flange H in its. raisedinoperative position without exertion of hand pressure, the operatormerely pulls on the partially projected plunger 25 and slides the sameout to its full line position of Fig. 3, wherein it will support theflange l'l against the action of the springs 2!. Usually the plunger 25will be. left in this fully extended full line position so long as thedoor i is open. However, when the door is closed and it is desired torender the flange il operative thereon, the operator merely lifts upwardslightly on the flange H to release the plunger of its pressure and thenpushes the plunger back to its partiallyretracted dotted line positionof Fig. 3, after which the closing pressure of the spring-pressed flangel'l will complete the retraction of the plunger 25 against the action orit spring 26 by cam action.

What I claim is:

1. In a cabinet having a door opening and an outwardly hinged door forsaid opening. a winglike flange pivoted to the cabinet adjacent the onan axis parallel to the axis of the door hinge, yielding means forbiasing the wing-like flange to move over-a portion of the door openingand against the outside of the closed door to hold 8 against accidentalopening movements and-rattling vibrations; and a plunger workingslidably through the cabinet between an edge of the door a I opening andthe pivot point of said wing flange, said plunger being free to slidelongitudinally 10 from a retracted osition substantially flush with theouter wall of the cabinet to an extended position wherein it willsupport the wing flange in an inoperative position against the closingpressure exerted by its cooperating biasing means, and

5 yielding means tending to project said plunger.

2. Ina cabinet having a door opening, an outwardly opening door hingedthereto adjacent one edge of the door opening, a wing flange hinged tothe cabinet adjacent an outer edge of the door opening opposite thehinge axis of the door and on an axis parallel to the hinge axis of thedoor and adjacent edge of the door opening, said wing flange extendingsubstantially the length of' the adjacent edge of the door opening andbeing of sufficient width to overlap the adjacent edge l of thedooropening and edge portion of the door when the door is closed,yielding means biasing the wing flange to move into engagement with theouter face of the door and hold the same against accidental opening andvibratory movements and a plunger working slidably throughthe cabinettoward an edge of the door opening and the axis of the wing flange, saidplunger being free to slide longitudinally from a retracted 5 positionwherein its outer end is substantially flush with the outside of thecabinet to an extended position wherein it will underlie and support thewing flange in an inoperative open position against closingipressureexerted by its coop- 40 erating biasing means.

from which it is capable of being further retracted by cam action of thewing flange thereon under the action of its biasing means.

EDWm C. WORTHLEY.

edge of the opening opposite the door hinge and X

